Kai tried to chill everyone out, "Easton, dude, take a breather!"
The lady's eyes were bugging out, still showing the terror of her last moments. Her pupils got huge as she just dropped, gone for good.
"Sarah!" Emily spun around in the dark just in time to catch a shadowy dude jamming a dagger into Sarah's head. Total nightmare fuel.
The freak had shown up!
Emily got the chills as her superpowers kicked in. She's all about that ice life. Clenching her fists, she whipped up some ice spikes right out of her hands.
She zipped forward, fast as lightning, flinging those ice spikes like they were going out of style, making a sound like a sonic boom.
Zane wasn't about to take that hit. He dodged and pulled a vanishing act into the wall.
"What? This..." Emily lost track of him, totally stumped.
Where'd he bounce to?
But as she was figuring it out, another dagger zipped out from the wall, aiming for her head. It was too quick for Emily.
Before she could even duck, the blade had nailed her, yanking out her core crystal.
Another one bites the dust...
It all went down in a flash.
"Sarah, Emily, what's up with you guys?" Kai's voice came from down the hall.
He and the squad felt something was off and came running, but they were too late. They found both gals down, core crystals gone.
Just like the other five!
The crew got the creeps big time.
"Where's this monster at?" The remaining five looked around, all spooked, thinking they might be next.
But the hall was dead quiet, like nothing ever happened. If not for the two bodies, they might've thought they were tripping.
This was some weird stuff!
They realized the monster was still around, hiding in the shadows, waiting for someone to slip up.
Kai was thinking hard. With two hundred folks in the mall and no one else getting hit, this monster was only after the Awakened.
Maybe Sarah was onto something; this thing had been tailing them the whole time...
Easton was losing it, eyes all red, breathing like he just ran a marathon.
"Where you at, monster? Come out and fight like a real one! Hiding and sneaking ain't cool!"
But no matter how loud he yelled, only his echo came back, the hall staying dark and quiet.
"Easton, cool it!"
Kai was all serious, "Flipping out isn't helping. We need to figure out how this thing does its thing."
"Kai, did you catch anything just now?" the last Awakened gal asked.
Kai nodded. "Yeah, I noticed something."
"Oh?" The others leaned in, all ears.
Kai got serious. "Don't you think it's weird where Emily went down? She was facing the wall, like... she was trying to hit the wall!"
"Attack the wall?" They were all puzzled but then a wild idea hit them. "Could it be... the monster is inside the wall?"
"No, it's not in the wall, but it can phase through stuff, even people," Kai figured.
The four nodded, the idea making sense, especially since there were no wounds and their Brain Nexus was gone.
They had thought about this before but couldn't wrap their heads around it.
"Yo, can this thing really do that?" one of them piped up, all skeptical.
"For real, and it can shuffle a ton of stuff around super quick. Putting those tricks together, looks like we're dealing with some space-bending hotshot, maybe even rocking a domain."
"A domain?" The crew was shook.
Quantum Leap Innovations had been on the grind, scooping up all sorts of zombie freaks and mutant critters to poke and prod. Turns out, a rare few could pop off with some wild skills, domains included.
A monster with a domain? It's like a ninja ghost, popping in and out of sight, taking folks out left and right. Some eggheads started calling these types 'Ghost Corpses.'
"Are we up against a Ghost Corpse?" Easton's eyes popped wide.
"Yep, and this brainy zombie is all about that sneak and evade life. This type of walker is deadly news. We gotta take it down before it levels up to Corpse King, or we're all toast!" Kai was all business, eyes locked on.
The squad caught their breath, the weight of the moment hitting hard.
Easton seemed to pull a memory out of nowhere, "Hold up, don't freak out yet. The lab coats said these domain dudes are usually all weak sauce physically. That's their Achilles' heel."
"Kinda comforting... No wonder it's all about the hit-and-run and not facing us head-on," someone chimed in, feeling a bit better.
Easton nodded. "The real deal now is figuring out how to smoke it out!"
"True that. With what we got, if this zombie doesn't wanna be seen, we might never spot it," Kai mused, then flipped the script, "But... maybe we can outsmart it. Even if it's smart for a zombie, it's not touching human cunning."
Humans have been the top of the food chain forever because we're clever. Like, you don't chase a rabbit. You set a trap.
After hashing it out, the gang came up with a game plan to bait the beast.
They decided to have one person play decoy, acting all solo to lure the zombie out, then the rest would jump it.
But being the decoy was no joke, and they needed someone tough.
Kai stepped up, "I'll take one for the team. I'll hang in the first-floor lobby, you guys keep eyes from the sixth floor. Spot it, and it's go time."
"And remember, since this zombie's a lightweight, get up close and personal to keep it from dipping out again!"
"Kai, rolling solo as bait is too risky. How about I back you up? That zombie might bite if it sees a duo," a big dude suggested.
Kai nodded. "Cool, Leland and I will hit the first floor. Easton, you and the rest watch from up top. Stick together."
"You got it, Kai!" Easton was pumped.
They'd been played by this monster, losing seven teammates, and it was grinding their gears. Now, they were ready to clap back!
Fired up, they got moving.
Little did they know, Zane was chilling right next door, less than thirty meters away.
With the zombie's sharp ears, he caught every word.
Kai's loud plotting? "Not too shabby..."
Zane flickered, popping up in the corridor the squad had just left.
He figured these folks were kinda smart... but not quite there yet.